GTA Online Needs to 'Rest', Says Take-Two CEO

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two has said GTA Online was never intended as a permanent fixture, and that the franchise needs to “rest.”

As reported by GameSpot, speaking at the Cowen and Company Technology, Media & Telecom Conference, CEO Strauss Zelnick explained Take-Two never intended for GTA Online to become a permanent entity.

“Not only was it not our intention that GTA Online was permanent, but it’s important that it not be permanent,” says Zelnick. “We have to rest the franchise at some point.”

Previously, Zelnick used the term “permanent” when talking about the likes of Red Dead Redemption, Evolve, and the GTA series, but never individual online modes.

To date, GTA Online has brought in over $500 million in revenue via its Shark Card microtransaction system. The same system, though controversial to some, subsequently lets developers release content periodically, free of charge.

With the exception of the NBA and WWE yearly franchises, Take-Two tends to avoid releasing games annually – the logic behind it being that, by “resting” a franchise, people are more likely to be excited by a new installment, rather than suffering what marketers call “franchise fatigue.”